Oil baffles in carrier for a fan drive gear system

Abstract

A gearbox assembly for a gas turbofan engine includes a sun gear rotatable about an axis and a plurality of intermediate gears driven by the sun gear. A baffle disposed between at least two of the plurality of intermediate gears includes a first gap distance within a first gap portion and a second gap distance within a second gap portion. The first gap portion is disposed between the baffle and one of the intermediate gears away from the meshed interface with the sun gear and the second gap portion is disposed near the interface with the sun gear. The first gap distance within the first gap portion is different than the second gap distance within the second gap portion to define a desired lubricant flow path.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A gearbox assembly for a gas turbofan engine comprising:
 a sun gear rotatable about an axis, the sun gear including a first gear region and a second gear region and including a cavity disposed between the first gear region and the second gear region; 
 a plurality of intermediate gears driven by the sun gear; 
 a baffle disposed between at least two of the plurality of intermediate gears, wherein the baffle is spaced a first gap distance from the at least two intermediate gears within a first gap portion and a second gap distance different than the first gap distance from one of the at least two intermediate gears within a second gap portion including an interface with the sun gear, wherein the baffle includes a wedge extending into the cavity of the sun gear for circulating lubricant out of the cavity. 
 
     
     
       2. The gearbox assembly as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the second gap distance is larger than the first gap distance. 
     
     
       3. The gearbox assembly as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the second gap distance is between 1.5 and 2.5 times greater than the first gap distance. 
     
     
       4. The gearbox assembly as recited in  claim 1 , including a carrier supporting the intermediate gears relative to the sun gear and a ring gear circumscribing the intermediate gears, wherein a ring gear baffle is supported on the carrier. 
     
     
       5. The gearbox assembly as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the ring gear baffle includes a wedge extending into a cavity defined between gear regions of the intermediate gears. 
     
     
       6. The gearbox assembly as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the baffle defines a lubricant flow path around the at least two intermediate gears. 
     
     
       7. A turbofan engine comprising:
 a fan rotatable about an axis; 
 a core engine section disposed about the axis; and 
 a geared assembly driven by the core engine section for rotating the fan about the axis, the gear assembly including a sun gear rotatable about an axis, a plurality of intermediate gears driven by the sun gear, and a baffle disposed between at least two of the plurality of intermediate gears, wherein the baffle is spaced a first gap distance from the at least two intermediate gears within a first gap portion and a second gap distance different than the first gap distance from one of the at least two intermediate gears within a second gap portion including an interface with the sun gear, wherein the sun gear includes a first gear region and a second gear region and a cavity between the first and second gear regions and the baffle includes a wedge extending into the cavity for circulating lubricant out of the cavity of the sun gear. 
 
     
     
       8. The turbofan engine as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the second gap distance is larger than the first gap distance. 
     
     
       9. The turbofan engine as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the second gap distance is between 1.5 and 2.5 times greater than the first gap distance. 
     
     
       10. The turbofan engine as recited in  claim 7 , including a carrier supporting the intermediate gears relative to the sun gear and a ring gear circumscribing the intermediate gears, wherein a ring gear baffle is supported on the carrier. 
     
     
       11. The turbofan engine as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the ring gear baffle includes a wedge extending into a cavity defined between gear regions of the intermediate gears. 
     
     
       12. The turbofan engine as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the baffle defines a lubricant flow path around the at least two intermediate gears. 
     
     
       13. A method of assembling a fan drive gear system comprising:
 supporting a sun gear within a carrier; 
 mounting a plurality of intermediate gears within the carrier in meshed engagement with the sun gear; 
 mounting a ring gear circumscribing the plurality of intermediate gears; 
 mounting at least one baffle between at least two of the plurality of intermediate gears that define a first gap distance between the intermediate gears within a first gap portion and second gap distance different than the first gap distance within a second gap portion proximate the meshed engagement between the intermediate gears and the sun gear, the sun gear including a first gear oprtion and a second gear portion, and extending a wedge of the baffle into a cavity between the first and second gear portions of the sun gear for circulating lubricant from the cavity. 
 
     
     
       14. The method as recited in  claim 13 , including defining the second gap distance to be greater than the first gap distance for defining a lubricant flow path away from the meshed engagement between the intermediate gears and the sun gear. 
     
     
       15. The method as recited in  claim 13 , including defining the second gap distance to be between 1.5 and 2.5 times greater than the first gap distance.